Arsenal and Tottenham set to lose out on Barcelona ace

onJune 27, 2012

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are set to be beaten to the punch for Barcelona’s Ibrahim Afellay by Lille according to reports emanating from Spain. The French outfit are reportedly prepared to make an €7m bid for the 26 year old Dutchman who still has three years left in his current deal with the Catalan giants. But the injury-prone winger is unlikely to feature in the plans of new manager Tito Vilanova and the club in general are looking to offload a few players to ease up their wage bill in the face of growing debt whilst raising money for new recruits. His future should be sorted out soon as the player was part of the Dutch squad that made an early return from the European Championships.

The former PSV Eindhoven attacker has many admirers in England, with Arsene Wenger one of them. Afellay’s close relationship with Robin van Persie fed the rumours about the Dutchmen linking up at the Emirates, but Wenger has looked elsewhere for his attacking needs. As for Tottenham, the absence of a manager has led to the club falling behind on a number of transfer prospects and the latest in the line could be the winger.